Spatter shield for c-clamps



Nov. 7, 1950 o. F. POTTS SPATTER SHIELD FOR C-CLAMPS CZZz orne ys.

Filed July 23, 19,46

Patented Nov. 7, 1950 SPATTER SHIELD FOR C-CLAIWPS Oliver F. Potts,Kenmore, N. Y., assignor to J. H.

Williams & Company, Bufialo, N. Y.

Application July 23, 1946, Serial No. 685,747

2 Claims. I

This invention relates to C-clamps and particularly to a protected guardor device therefor by which'the screw threads of the screw are protectedfrom spattering molten metal coming from a welding are adjacent anobject secured in said clamp. In welding an object held in said clamp,some of the molten metal may sputter and strike and freeze upon theclamping screw, making it impossible to thread the screw through the nutof the clamp.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved C-clamp having itsscrew element adequately protected by a guard or shield againstsputtering metal; with which the protecting guard or shield may be asheet metal stamping bent into desired shape and applied to and detachedfrom the screw element merely by passing it into and out of embracingrelation to said element; which will not interfere with the normal useof the clamp; which may be applied easily to existing types andconstructions of G-clamps without alterations therein; and which will berelatively simple, light in weight and inexpensive.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription of one embodiment of the invention, and the novel featureswill be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with theappended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a typical C-clamp having therein a guardor shield constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional elevation of the same, the sectionbeing taken approximately along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is another sectional elevation of the same, the section beingtaken approximately along the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan of a part of the same; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional bottom plan of the same, the section being takenapproximately along the line 55 of Fig. l and looking in the directionof the arrows.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the C-clamp may be ofany desired construction having at the end of one arm ll of the clamp acompression abutment wall I2, and in the other arm l3 of the clamp a nutl4 aligned with the abutment I2. A screw element I is threaded throughthe nut 14 so as to be advanced toward and from the abutment I2 by themere act of threading the screw element l5 through the nut M in onedirection or the other. The outer end of the screw l5 has a smooth,circular periphery It, and carries a handle I! by which the screw may beturned.

The opposite end of the screw element has a reduced, annular groove orneck 18, see Fig. 5, a short distance from its end, and the end portionbeyond the annular neck or groove terminates in a ball-shaped head 19which is confined in a socket 20 provided in a boss 2i on the rear faceof a clamping plate 22. The socket 2U encircles slightly more than halfthe circumference of the ball [9 so as to be confined on the ball, andyet is free to rock universally to some extent on the ball.

This C-clamp as thus described is a typical C-clamp which is old and onthe market, and this invention relates to the addition to that typicalC-clamp of a shield which protects the threads of the screw element l5from spattering metal that may be thrown off in the welding of anarticle clamped between the plate 22 and the abutment l2. This shield isa generally U-shaped member 23 which is larger than the screwelement l5and is disposed in straddling relation to the screw element and to thenut l4 and the adjacent arm of the frame of the C-clamp. The arm l3 ofthe clamp frame thus extends through the space between the side arms ormembers of v the shield and thus the shield may move with the screwelement endwise toward and from the abutment l2 without rotationtherewith.

At the end of the shield 23 adjacent the handle IT, the shield 23 isprovided with inturned flanges 24 which encircle the circular peripheryl6 of the screw element I5 from opposite sides thereof, and each flangehas an arcuate edge 25 which fits the cylindrical curvature of thesurface I6 for a substantial distance on opposite sides of a diameterthrough the screw between the flanges. These arcuate edges 25 thusprovide a bearing between the flanges 24 and the screw element l5 bywhich the shield is spaced from the screw element and yet heldyieldingly thereon.

The shield 23 at its other end is also provided with similarly inturnedflanges 26 which embrace opposite sides of the screw element l5 in theannular neck l8, and each of these flanges has an arcuate edge 2? whichextends in both directions around the screw element [5 from a diameterof the screw element passing through both flanges 2E. The arcuate edges21 thus provide a rotatable bearing between that end of the shield andthe screw element which spaces the shield from the screw element, and byreason of the engagement of the flanges 26 in the annular groove [8against the side walls thereof, the shield 23 will be positively movedwith the screw element linearly in the direction of progression of thescrew element toward and from the abutment l2 as the screw element isthreaded back and forth through the nut.

Since the flanges 24 and 26 are carried only on the side arms of theU-shaped shield, it follows that the shield may be applied to or removedfrom the screw element by the simple act of moving the shield laterallyacross the screw element while parallel therewith, during which thesides of the U-shapedshield will spring apart to enable the flanges tosnap into and out of encircling engagement, through their arcuate freeedges, with the screw element. The shield may be removed by merelypulling it sidewise from the screw 15, because the sides of the shieldwill spring apart to pass the screw element.

It Will'be observed that this shield is like a. channel which straddlesthe screw element and.

receives through the open face of the channel" the nut M and arm I3which keep the shield from rotating, yet the shieldmoves linearlyendwise with the screw element and protects the screw threads fromspattering metal that may be thrown ofi during a welding operation onobjects clamped between the abutment l2 and the plate 2 2. The shield 23is preferably formed of metal or other material which has substantialresiliency, and itmay be formed of a simple sheet metal'sta'mping bentinto the proper U-shape as shown, with the flanges 24 and 2.6 bentlaterally from the ends of theblank at the sides of the channel. It maybe applied to existing C-clamps without the use 'of special tools, andit may be removed at any time when its position on the clamp isobjectionable. The shield effectively protects the threads throughouttheir entire range of movement, and substantially the full gap betweenthe arms of the clamp is available with the shield as well as without.

It will be understood thatvarious changes in the details, materials andarrangements of parts which have been hereindescribed and illustrated inorder to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by thoseskilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, asexpressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A spatter guard, adapted to be rotatably mounted on the screw elementof a C-clamp, comprising: a U-shaped sheet metal shell having sidesstraight from end to end and adapted to extend along said screw elementat opposite sides thereof, said sides having an integral flange at eachend, the flanges on each end of the shell extending toward each otherand being separated from each other whereby the sides of the shell mayspring apart to allow the insertion of the screw element therein, andsaid flanges having concave end edges adapted to bear on the peripheryof the unthreaded end portions of the screw element at diametricallyopposite sides thereof, so as to be rotatably mounted thereon.

2. The guard substantially as set forth in claim 1, having the edges ofthe flanges on theopen side of the shell diverging from the concaveportions thereof.

OLIVER F. POTTS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:.

UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1,268,775 Stanger June 4, 19181,562,482 Worenle Nov. 24-, 1925 2,221,326 Holman Nov. 12, 1940 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 524,798 France May 20, 1921

